is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

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brandaholicbabies
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is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by brandaholicbabies »

hello my dear ladies,

it seams sales are worsening by the day. Where ever I look I see babies for sale, but very few are selling.
The same sculpt offered in different versions some good , some excellent and some really bad.

I have started thinking about this for the past few months, we have so many preorders coming out every month, and the editions are so overwhelming. I used to feel so guilty if I did not order, as I was missing out. Now I do not, I rarely preorder and by the time I feel the need to paint that kit I missed out on it, a new one comes out and I forget about the previous.

I have about 10 kits in my stash and I tried to sell below market loosing about $30, and they still do not sell....I started reborning them :lol: :lol: Clyde is one of them. :lol: :lol:

I hope this is not the end.

As collectors can you please enlighten me what are you looking for, when purchasing?

I still believe the older sculpts, Saoirse, Quinnie, Miracle and so many around that time have kept their value, but all these new one coming out???? I find them beautiful, just too many on the market :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I have decided for now to stick around and complete the kits I have, they will be done either as baldie, painted hair or full combi like Clyde below...
once these are all done I will give continuing a good thought :?: :?:

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Barbydoll
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by Barbydoll »

As a collector only, myself, my buying dolls has slowed way down due to retiring & a lot less money & more of it going for necessities like medicines for ourselves and the like. I still love collecting dolls, just buy probably only a 1/4 to what I used to do. I hope it is not the end to the reborning era!! But I do realize that it costs both the artists that create the dolls & the artists that reborn them a lot of their hard earned funds to keep producing them. I know that when I buy, I am tending to buy "pre-loved" babies or less expensive reborns. The days of long layaways are just not happening for me anymore. Guess everyone is at a different place in their life and our preferences & needs are all different.
I like any well done doll, just not personally fond of bald babies. Painted or rooted or a combination is great for me. I know everyone has an opinion here. Also might be nice to have more "painted kits" available with a body included?? Again, just my opinion.
That being said, your Clyde asleep is gorgeous!!! Best Wishes with his sale!!!
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brandaholicbabies
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by brandaholicbabies »

thanks so much for your input my dear....I used to collect too, and the money for collecting would come from selling either completed babies, painted kits or untouched kits...nothing is moving anymore, it is very hard to sell anything, therefore is impossible for me to buy :-(
brandaholicbabies
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by brandaholicbabies »

THanks so much dear Melinda, I agree with you as I had many dolls coming home and I would be horrified, some would be resold in matter of seconds, and some would be stripped if the kit was a nice kit to repaint....I search on ebay every morning, I always do since 7years ago. Now my search starts with minimun $200 and that seam to takeout all the chinese dolls....luvabella was not supposed to be in the search because is not a reborn, but we as artist have to compete with that too and the sex chinese silicone dolls too. lol
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by Barbara L. »

I am a collector of all kinds of dolls, but I am also now limited on what I can spend.

In my opinion, there will always be a popular artist or popular sculpts, but similar looks from different artists, because a certain sculpt is popular
or sleeping faces that all look alike makes me want something different than what everyone else seems to like at the time.

I like the fact that there is a lot of variety in the doll world as far as what medium is used and how each
artist interprets the sculpt and that gives us collectors some choices of what we want to buy.
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by LynnW »

I think the challenge with selling these days is that there are SO many dolls from China flooding Ebay so it's hard as a collector to sift through all the listings. Your work is amazing! The rooting is incredible.

For me, I try to stay within a certain budget when buying reborns... Paying thousands wouldn't be something I'd consider... I'd rather buy a silicone baby at that price point. I do think there are some amazing artists who have beautiful babies in the $500-1000 range so that's what I try to stick to. I'm also starting to paint babies myself, so for me to purchase one, I try to find babies that have something I can't do as well myself (like amazingly rooted hair :).

I do think there are new collectors discovering this hobby every day. I see this on YouTube and Facebook, so I do think the hobby will continue to grow in popularity. I'm not sure why sales are so slow right now.

Your work is beautiful and I hope you continue reborning! :)
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by LadyFortuna »

I'm a fairly new collector and have recently discovered the secondary market here on DF and wish I discovered it sooner as this hobby is not exactly cheap and one can only have enough space to keep a certain number of dolls. Your work is amazing BTW! I think it has more to do with timing more than anything else and what collectors don't already have to justify a purchase. I have to like the sculpt first, then the painting has to be nicely done (eyebrows in particular) but the two main things that would make me buy a doll would be whether the hair is nicely rooted AND if this doll will be unique enough in my collection. I'll give you a specific example: I almost bought into HBN's Blessing by Marita Winters. I don't normally buy painted hair reborns but I fell in love with how she was painted and I have never owned a painted hair reborn and didn't have a preemie at that time. In the end, I didn't go for it because the sculpt wasn't really what I would normally go for if it wasn't for the artist's quality paint job. I now also check artists' used dolls to see if they were similar from their brand new photos. Artists with websites have bit of a head start since new collector's get some sort of assurance on the quality of their work. The BB realborn babies will be a lot harder to standout in the market imo because they don't get as much exposure time for buyer's to appreciate their "uniqueness". Sculpts by Bonnie Brown, as example, will be more unique because they tend to be personality sculpts that don't come out every two weeks. So if I were to add another reborn in my collection, it would be one with the following characteristics: darker skin tone like spanish or southeast Asian (not AA and not Chinese Asian), ginger baby, curly hair baby, just born or very newborn sparsely rooted hair baby newborn size, and personality baby (think Pixie Brown), and older sculpts that stand the test of time that would be a "classic".
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by Sandis Doll House »

Retirement= Less Money=Less Doll buying. I've never had to budget before and it's no fun. Your doll is absolutely amazing.
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by Atalanta »

The first reborners started with dolls that didn't look realistic. They had to invent the art. Yet they were interested in dolls.
When reborned dolls found their collectors, a gap remained between the toy dolls and the artful reborned dolls. Yet there should be buyers who were interested in not too expensive realistic dolls, but they collected the expensive reborned dolls, for they had no choice. They have choice now. That explains why sales are slowing down. It doesn't mean that the art ends. It's only the market organising itself.
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by tixiepixi_linda »

I am a collector

In the beginning I seemed to crave a new face all the time and as I ran out of room I sold to buy
I am now down to keepers with no room
I have sold keepers and bought them back when they became available

The baby you have posted is gorgeous :heart:

Edited to add the 2 Romie S babies in my sigi are two I have sold and bought back :)
x Hugs x
Linda
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by WithloveSteph »

I have to agree with you. I think reborn art is dying out. I know I had to give up painting the past 3 years and I just recently browsed ebay, there are barely any dolls anymore. Its flooded with the Chinese dolls that claim to be reborns but are not. Years ago, it was all art dolls, and they were really good ones too. Can't find really any anymore.
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by WithloveSteph »

Carla, I want to add, I love your work. I still have the little Zachy that you made, and I have him in my collection to save for my daughter when she is old enough to take care of it properly. Your work is truly beautiful ;)
With Love,
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by LanaDollfana »

I am strictly a collector and have the same situation as others. Retired, the house is full, and I can't afford the prices for the very best. I think also the proliferation of sculptors and the constant flood of new kits are having an effect. When there were not so many kits, and those were limited, getting a new reborn was truly a thrilling event. I have had to impose the same limits I used to give my teenagers: a new item came in, an old one had to go, but it is almost impossible to sell an older doll now, so what to do?
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Re: is this the end of this amazing art? reasoning on the future

Post by rdodd75 »

As a fussy collector i'm finding that quality work is becoming rarer and the prices are making it difficult. I'm becoming bored with the hobby because too many kits are released that look similar and kits with that wow factor are few and far between. Not being able to afford the prices reborners ask has made me rethink continueing to collect. I first started collecting in 2013 and back then you could find beautiful babies on ebay for around $400-$500. It's changed so much.
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